title: Speech status following uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of speech following uvulopalatopharyngoplasty surgery. Twenty UPPP subjects, all of whom exhibited obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and 15 non-UPPP control subjects participated in the study. Evaluation included measures of nasal airflow, speech recordings with listener judgments, and a questionnaire survey. Nasal resonance in the UPPP subjects was found not to be deviant by a panel of four experienced judges. The UPPP subjects were differentiated from their non-UPPP pairs on the basis of significant phonation (voice) problems, and to a lesser extent, their articulation problems. It is suggested that dryness problems that remained in many subjects postoperatively may be related to the observed voice problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Salas-Provance
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Kuehn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000601:surgery; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D014609:Uvula / Q000601:surgery*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D014833:Voice Quality